Control for ironing machines



July 18, 1933.

H. A. SPERLICH ET AL CONTROL FOR IRONING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 10, 1932 I INVENTORS ATTORN EY5.

50 those skilled'inthe Patented July is, 1933. f

' HERMAN A. srnnmcn stam n uns a e-HIGHLAND PARK, MICHIGAN ooiwnonron iRonrnGiaAoHrNns Application fledJjlay 10, 12,2 2. isrialf'no. 610,47 l" This invention relates toironing machines following descriptionand theaccompanying and more particularly to thermostatic' conw trols for the heaters ofmachines wherein the shoe is heated, andit will be understood'that 5 the control shown may be utilized withva rious forms of shoe heaters, such as gas.

A. Sperlich burners, electric coils, etc. p, 7 In the application otI-Ierman filed July 30,1925,thereis disclosed an ironing machine having a base, avertical' frame member supporting ahorizontalqro-ll, and a" second vertical membersupporting an elongated horizontal shoe disposedadjacent the, roll. The second frame member or leg is intermediate the ends of the shoe, so that these ends are'free. In the saidapplication the shoe heating means includes electric heating units towhich lead conductor wires disposed in the; shoe supporting leg. In the ironing machine shown in this application, gas burner pipes" are disposed in the shoe adjacent the under" surfacethereof v, and are connected to a vertical gas supply pipe, disposed in the vertical shoe supporting leg, there, being {a control valve inthe pipe, controllable by means of a thermostatic control, which forms *a fmajor partof the invention of. application} An object of the invention, there fore, is an line, resilient means tending to keep the valve closed, personally operable means for opening the valve and thermally controlled means for permitting the valveto close in accord y Still further objects are novel formsof parts for use with the combination described a in the foregoing paragraph; 1 i

Still further objects willreadily oceumo' art upon referencelto' the the left ofFigure 5.

and Johannes H. 'Uhlig, Serial No'. 46,958,;

ironing machine having an elongated hori controlled by'a control valve in the supply ance with the rising temperature ofthe shoe.

drawings 'i1iwhich I Figure-f1? is a partial section viewot'the i shoe and the appurtenant Figure21s a face viewof the control. valve and is'taken in the directionof the' arjrow2 ofFig urel." v i Figure 3 is a facejviewvof the setting'yplate thelarrow 3 of Figureilh a and pointer and is ta'ken'in thedirection of c parts taken froml 1 ala;

-cFigures .4 and 5am sections onthe lines Figure 6 and its supporting leg, provided ;with the control of the invention.- w Referring to the drawings' it will beobserved that, the ironing-machine,

s a small scale vieyvyof only part a of which is disclosed, includes a base 10 hav ing' a. vertical hollow leg 12, upon which is supported the elongated horizontal "shoe 14; the latterbeingadjacent the horizontal roll 15. As seen best in Figure 6, the leg is intermediatethe'ends of the shoe and the latter has two free ends, to one of which one end" .of the control mechanism is ad ustabIy secured." Under the shoe is; a shoe guard 16 upon which is suppo-rtedan elongated .burner pipelS, the lat-terbeingdisposedbetween the shoe and the shoe guard; Afvertical supply pipe 20: leadslto the burner pipe and :is

disposed in the leg 12; Gas' 'fr om-the supply. line 22passes thru the, controlvalveQl and.

into the mouth of the supplypipe 20thru an adjustable nipple 26,Ythepipe havingside openings or ports 28,for air vvhich' is to mix with the :gas' from the pipe 22. The degree opening of the valve .Ztis controlled man ual-ly and also by the thermostatic control means formingfa major part of the invention.

The same will now bedescribed. f-

The under surface of theshoe neanone 'itsjfreeends, is providedfvvithxanintegral,

boss 30 havinga hole 32 into which is :in-

ser'ted-Ithe pin end" 340i a, cast setting plate or "dial 36, there being'a set screw'at 38' for securin the plate 36,011 the boss and conse-y' quentlyjonthe shoe; soi s of the'faces ofth'e setting plate is provided with markings,"

Figure 3,..pnd the setting plate islfurther 5 extent, and the closing member 7 4 will move provided witha tapped hole 39 thru which is threaded the screw 40. Threaded on the tree end of the screw is the setting pointer 42 and a loc'lr'nut 44 secures the'setting po nter fiX-.

edly in place on the screw 40. I

There is thus formed for the. setting pointer 42, a journal in the plate 36,'so--that the-pointer may be rotated about the setting ordancewith the will ofthe operato r of the machine. l

1' the operator desires-to have the machine heat-'- 45 the 300 mark. This action takes up the lost plate for purposes to be described later. A

ballcheck 46 in the pointer trictionally strains the pointer from 'movingexcept 1n T he end of the screw 40 mostremote from the pointer is provided with a cavity 50- which receives an elongated link or rod 52 of invar steel, this material being selected because it has amuch smaller coetficient ot'expans'ion than the material of the shoe itself,.which'is n pref'erablyoi cast iron. The other end of the rod 52 is connected to a bell crank 54,

the-latter being pivotally fixed to the shoe by a pin 56 passed into I face of the shoe, similar to the bossf30, The

a. boss on the under sur other arm of the bell crank 54 is pivotally connected at 58- to a link 60,'also-otinva'rsteel,

which in turn ispivotally connected at 62 to a bell crank 64, thelatter beingpivotally Y fixed atl66 to the cap-68 or thevalve'24. The 3O cap is-bo-lted to thebody by bolts 70, thereby clamping between it and'the body, a flexible normally bowed cured the valve closing member 7 4, the securing-meansincludinga cap-nut 76 extend ing beyond the cap 68; The body of the valve 24 is provided with valve seat- 7 8 adapted" to be closed by the closing member 74. A; I coiled tension resisting spring 80 is secured to the belle-rank 64 at 82, and is secured-to a pin 84 fixedly mounted on the base of the machine in a suitable manner.

The operation of the device will readily be understood from the foregoing. W'hen ed toa temperature, let us say, 300', degrees, she rotates the setting pointer 42 until it is on motion between screw 40 and rod 52 and causes the screw 40 to push upon the invar steel rod 52, lifting the link 66 and'rotating belicrank 64 clockwise, Figure 1, on its pivot 66, a ainst the tendency of the valve closing spring 80. When the bell crank 64 is lifted (is the cap nut 76, Figure 1, the diaphragm 7 2 is permitted to bow outwardly to its fullest away from the'valve seat 78, opening the valve 24. Gas will then flow to the supply pipe 20 and will burn, being ignited by a pilot, which is not 'shownor described but whichmaybe provided in any suitablelmanners The shoe will heat considerably until itreaches the desired temperature. During this heating the shoe will tendto eXpand,-that is to say, its free ends willmove away from diaphragm 7 2 to which is se the leg 12. Accordingly, thesetting plate i 36 and the screw 40 will move'tothe'right, Figure 1, relieving the force on the right liandend of the nod 52, which. has". not eX- pandedas much as theshoe because of its low coeliicient'of expansion. The spring 80,

meanwhile pulling upon bell. [crank 64, vwill r tend 'to closethe valve 24*as much as is permitted by the control mechanism, the move,

ment being checked by the engagement of the right hand end. ot'the' rod j 52" with the end of its seat5O illthe screw 40.

the desired temperature the gas supply is checked, to' the necessary degree. If, after the shoe has become heated to 'a considerable temperature, it is desired to -lower the tem- Y perature, the setting pointer is turned back wardly, pulling the screw away from the rod 52 and permitting'the springSO to close the .valveeven further.

the importantfeatures'ot-the inven-' tion isthe specific constructionofthe valve "operation means. It. will be seen that the valve can open only to a limited extent regardless-of the setting of the pointer. Accordinglyno matter h'owmuch the cranlr 64 is elevated orrnoved away from the-cap 68, the valve will open no more than to its'full open positionv as determined byfthe' flexing of the diaphragm 7 2. The stress will,th erefore, be upon 'the'spring 8O which is readily replaccable. and not upon the diay'phragm 7 2 whose original calibrationis "never injured or unduly stressed. 1' i i It will further bejseenl-that the 'shoe it'self acts as the prime mover for the thermostatic control and accordingly a direct-operative connection between the 'temperatureof the shoe and the degreeot opening of the valve is created.

or by the contraction ofthe shoe. f

'It will also be observ'ed th tthe thermostatic control shown maybe utilized in connection withelectricallyheatedironingmachineshoes;

For example, the gas burners 'may bereplaced by heating coils and the control valve may be'replac ed by a controlling rheostat; It will further beobse'rve'd the invention is of value in connection with other" forms of material processing means, wherein, a-h'eat processing member may-correspond to the shoe 14, and: a material-' feeding membercorresponding'to the roll 15.

It willfurth'er-be observed that" whilein the machine shown the shoe is under the roll, the invention'may well-be used in ma-; chines wherein the shoe is above the 1 r0ll if desired; Further, instead of,;0r in addi It will beseen that when the shoe reaches. 2

1 tion to the shoe being heated, the roll might I I be heated, if desired.

It will also be noted that restraining means other than the ball check 46 might well be usedv for the indicator or setting pointer or handle 42. For example, the screw 40 might have its threaded portion split and spread in the tapped hole 39 of the setting plate 36 to provide a friction check for the handle 42.

It will further benoted that if desired a gas pressure regulator might well be used in the gas line.

Further, it will be noted that the shoe 14 is provided with two series of vent holes 9092 near and along its upper edge. a One series opens tothe upper surface of'the shoe and normally providesa sufiicient path for the escape of the products of combustion from the burners. This'series of holes may,

however, be covered or smothered by' ma terial such as a heavy blanket, .etc.,'fed to 1. In an ironing machine, asu bstantially r vertical leg, anelon'gated horizontal shoe,

su orted on said leg and wings,- ire e 91's,;

burners for said shoe, a gassupply linein said leg and leading to said burners,a valve i in said leg for said supply'line,'means'tending to close said valve, a plate fixed to said shoe, adjacent the free end thereof, a'setting pointer journaled in said plate, and a link "of less expansibility thanand disposed par-Q 3 I allel tosaid shoe, the link being operatively a y connected, at one end to said valve,- and at the other end,to said; setting pointer by a lost motion connection, whose-lost'motion can be takenup by manual adjustment of f a 3 said pointer or by contraction of said shoe. 1 2. In an ironing machine, asubstantially vertical leg, an elongated horizontalvshoe supported on said leg and having a free end,

burners for said shoe, agas supply linefin said legand leading to said burners, a valve a c 3 ing to close said valve, a plate fixedytdsaid in saidleg for saidsupply'line, means tendshoe near the lattersfree end, 'a setting point- "er journ'alled insaid plate, abell crank piva otally mounted on said shoe, near the leg, a" horizontal link of less expansibility than said jshoe connected at 'oneend to said bell crank and at the other end to the pointer'by a lost motion connection whose lostfmotion can be taken upby movement of'the pointer orby' contraction of the shoe, and a vertical link" connecting said bell crank' to the gas sup-ff ply valve.- I a a HERMANjA-.-SPERLIGH.

JOHANNES H; UHLIG. a 

